After getting there before everyone else, I took in the small stage that would erupt later that night. The blue light above the amplifiers would cascade over a riveting classic rock n’ roll show. As I interviewed the guys from Not A Planet, everyone was in good spirits, enjoying the fact that they were back in a familiar venue. We waited as the first band took the stage. 49 Stones did not disappoint rather they set the bar for the energy even as people came through the club door. As darkness fell Not A Planet took the stage. An amazing show in a small town packed in the middle of an oasis-type heat wave.

How did you guys start out?

Liam- Just encounters craigslist
Nathan- We saw each other in opposite buses, just going in different directions.
Liam – Our eyes met.
Nathan – And we knew immediately.

Yeah I’ve seen that you’ve posted on Facebook that you’ve been working on it pre-production. Is there a title or a name?

Nathan – Umm, there is well, we’ll let everyone know at the same time
Liam – It’s a big secret
Nathan- Yeah. You’ve got to wait so *all three of the guys laugh*

Because this is one of my favorite questions. How did each of you get involved with the instruments you play on stage now?

Liam – I started playing drums in fifth grade band, I guess. It was just the only thing that I could play that was also rock n’ roll. You know you can play tuba or you can play rock n’ roll, so. Although I love tubas too but nonetheless that’s when I started playing and didn’t stop.
Nathan – I’ve been singing forever but I don’t really know when I got started with that, uh probably with the first record I remember hearing was that song “Two Princes” from the nineties…

Wow.

Nathan – Yeah and I was like seven but it was like…it was weird…and then that is like the first one I remember hearing but then like subsequently I would hear Elvis Presley and then my mom’s favorite was Elvis Costello. And so I heard a lot of that growing up and James Taylor. And I think I just started singing along to that stuff and my parents liked it. And started playing guitar when I was about nine years old and put it down for about a year. Because I got frustrated because my hands were really small…

Oh same thing here, I was told I couldn’t play because my hands were so small…

Nathan- *haha* any one can play guitar but yeah it took me a year to pick it back up and then I did and love it. And haven’t really put it down since. So after that I started messing with alternate tunings right away and got into classic rock. And the rest is kind of history.

William- I actually started playing bass in the orchestra, with the upright and the bow and all that stuff. And went to school for a bit for it. And just I love the electric bass, I really do you know. You plug it in and it’s loud so it’s actually a really good thing. That’s how I got started.

Are you guys working on a full length album?

Nathan – Yes.
Liam – We are actually working on a concept right now.

Really. Can I hear the concept?

Liam- Tell her about it Nate.
Nathan- Without giving away the whole game, I guess thematically it’s about how, we people or maybe just me as a person, kind of like how to write it and these guys in tangent about how chaos is dealt with in our minds.

I like that sounds interesting. So is it all psychological?

Nathan –Not all. But it’s, yeah, I don’t I feel like that says absolutely nothing about it. Except for a theme.

No I think it depends on how you see it though.

Nathan – Just taking a lot of it from life events. And making sense of it.

I have to ask, how has it been having Jodie documenting you guys on tour and just playing show? *Standing next to me was Jodie their tour manager as well as rock photographer*

Now influences, I’m pretty big on influences and I remember reading you guys kind of take Jeff Buckley and Led Zeppelin and bring that out in the music. And I mean people will just name drop and you won’t even know where their influences came from saying I’m inspired by so and so band, yet you don’t hear it. So just kind of name influences and what has impacted you on music?

Nathan – As a band, I think we are just trying to make our own rock n’ roll style of everything we have pulled from…
William – Take it all in and regurgitate it out and see what happens. Throw it at the wall and see what sticks.
Nathan- Led Zeppelin, Jeff Buckley, The Beatles…
Liam- The list can go on forever and ever and ever, no truth is they are my influence, my only influences, only influence.
William – Still judging from when I grew up old rock n’ roll, Cream. Fantastic you know throwing out the bass.
Liam- I think even more than style too, influences are a big thing for bands, bands that do things that haven’t necessarily been done before, and it’s a really important thing.

Have you been looking at any record labels or a label you would like to be on?

Nathan – Yeah, I was going to say. I don’t know how bands really start looking at record labels besides them starting to look at you. But I mean we are not getting completely ignored, I think it’s just…
Liam – We have no plans to sign. At least not immediately.

You could always start your own?

Nathan- That’s a lot of work. We don’t want to start our own label as opposed to just playing.

Are there any bands you would like to tour with?

Liam- Yes, there are a lot of them. Young the Giant, Dr. Dog…
Nathan- My Morning Jacket, you said Dr. Dog right? Can I say that twice?
William- Dr. Dog three times over.
Liam- Morning Benders.

One last question one place you would like to play either a venue or a city?

William- I would like to play somewhere on the West Coast. I think that would be a really neat direction to go. And a whole different kind of lifestyle.
Nathan- I would love to play Webster Hall in New York, I’ve seen a lot of great shows there. I think that would be an attainable kind of want. Maybe the next step, we’re doing.
Liam- I’m going to go with Madison Square Garden…
Nathan- *laughs* that’s a few jumps.

About The Writer

Kristen Kristen

Kristen has led lives in Kansas City, Vancouver, WA and Portland. She hopes to eventually move on to New York, Paris and London. For now, she's a student photographer in the middle of nowhere who's putting together a band and hoping to create the next C.B.G.B's. Her interests include the newest and best bands, and punk DYI culture.

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Conceived of and produced by the team who bring you the prestigious International Songwriting Competition (ISC), Unsigned Only is a fresh and novel approach to other music competitions. Unsigned Only is a unique music competition designed for solo artists, bands, and singers all over the world who are not signed to a major label record company or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or imprints. The goal of Unsigned Only is to find an outstanding, talented performer: a band, singer, or solo artist; a newcomer or veteran; raw or polished -- the “gem” that needs to be discovered. Unsigned Only is looking for the total package.